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Old School 2003 |
Review by Jonathan Cornwell |
Directed by Todd Phillips
R, 91 min. (some strong sexual content, nudity, language) |
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Starring: Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Ellen Pompeo, Jeremy Piven, Craig Kilborn, Juliette Lewis
Producers: Daniel Goldberg, Joe Medjuck, Todd Phillips, Ivan Reitman
Screenplay: Todd Phillips, Scot Armstrong, Court Crandall
Distributor: Dreamworks
Released: 2/21/02 (Wide) |
Rating:
  (out of ) |
Old School is predictable in its humor and lamentable for it. There's no disguising the fact that director Todd Phillips
has crafted the film to revive memories of fraternity classics such as Animal House, but after the initial setup and a few
funny jokes, Old School slowly fades into an embarassing tripe of failed humor. The idea of 30-something guys
forming a fraternity to relive or escape their rudimentary lives is indeed interesting, but it can only go so far without
crossing the line of believability, since two of them are married with responsibilities. I'd recommend watching the first
20-30 minutes and then turning it off before its irrational characters become irritating.
Three guys, Mitch Martin (Luke Wilson), a businessman whose girlfriend has been unfaithful (to put it kindly),
Frank (Will Ferrell), a newlywed who is finding his new life unlivable, and Beanie (Vince Vaughn), a family man who
longs for the freedom that a fraternity can provide, form a fraternity at Mitch's house that encompasses both young
and old. Their newfound adventures attract the attention of the university's square dean, Pritchard (Jeremy Piven),
who is determined to shut them down.
But the storyline is nothing more than an excuse to string together several "humorous" sequences, which include
wrestling in K-Y Jelly, a tranquilizer dart in Frank's neck, Frank running naked through the streets, and the fraternity
undergoing several "tests" to prove their viability to Pritchard. Phillips is obviously trying to siphon from his previous
work, Road Trip (Sean William Scott makes a cameo), in a vain attempt
garner enough humor to last the film's too long running length. Unfortunately, very few of these scenes result in more
than a smile or slight chuckle from the audience, more due to the characters' hapless existence.
Luke Wilson and Vince Vaughn have obviously been in better pictures, but they do their best to hold things together while
Will Ferrell overracts to compensate for his character's shameful behavior - leaving your wife after a few weeks to "go and
party" just doesn't cut it. There are also cameos from a sexually curious Juliette Lewis and TV talk show host Craig Kilborn,
who looks as though he wishes he were somewhere else. For the most part, Old School will satisfy some people, especially
its target audience (those in their late 20's and early 30's), but its laughs are hollow and short-lived, evoking embarassment
at its own stupidity. It seems Hollywood is trying hard to reproduce the magic of Animal House but repeatedly coming up
short, mainly because this particular genre has been beaten into oblivion. It's time for a different approach to make this
type of film work again.
© 2003 Jonathan Cornwell
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 | Masterpiece - Film perfection |
| Excellent - A Must See |
| Good - Highly Recommended |
| Fair - Worth seeing |
| Average - Viewable, but not recommended |
| Below average - View at own risk |
| Poor - Avoid at all costs |
| Very poor - An embarassment to the film industry |
| Zero | Awful - One of the worst films ever made |
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